ACTIVE READING CHAPTER ELEVEN
MAGICAL REALISM
When the father of Fernanda came in a bolted chest. He was "dressed in black and with a crucifix on his chest, his skin broken out in pestilential sores and cooking slowly in a frothy stew with bubbles like live pearls."
This is impossible because how could that "frothy stew" be boiling even after it's been mailed and shipped?
The fact that Aureliano Centeno created sherbert. This is getting out of hand, I believe, because they don't since when did they have sherbert? I don't get it! They didn't even have names for everything that existed, but now they have their own Baskin 31??
QUOTES
"Remedios the Beauty to put on a pair of men's pants and climb a greased pole..."
I thought this was hilarious. She is in her own home and she is the most beautiful and respected, but now everyone just treats her like nothing. This also reminds me of this one episode of the Simpsons.
" ' ...the grandson of a saint and the son of a queen of a rustler' "
The fact that Ursula show some humor is quite funny. She hasn't shown any humor, or anyone from the book has shown any humor.
CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT
In this chapter we find out about Fernanda's life story. She once lived like a queen and was the granddaughter of a real queen. Her mother once told her, "we are immensely rich and powerful...one day you will be a queen.'" The horrible part is the Fernanda believed her, she had hight hopes becoming queen and "she dreamed of her legendary kingdom." She really didn't know that her father Don Fernando was in debt, so Aureliano Segundo had to come and get her. When he went to the town where Fernanda lived he searched high and low for the most beautiful woman there, which was her. He then married her. When they were married Fernanda would not take off a long robe. She said she was waiting two weeks to be with her husband.
PLOT SUMMARY
The chapter starts off with a brief account of Fernanda's life story. We are told that she used to be the granddaughter of a queen. She then is found by Aureliano Segundo and he marries her. Her life is then changed dramatically. She is no longer the prestigious daughter of a queen. In fact even Ursula and Aureliano Seguando crack a joke behind her back.
Later on in the chapter, Aureliano's seventeen children show up. They are grown men and they destroy the house. Ursula and Amaranta do not even know what to do with the situation at hand.
Later on one of Aureliano's kids Aureliano Triste goes to a house, which he thinks is abandoned and he finds Rebecca withered and old. Everyone had thought that she was dead
but she was not.
THEMES
Lost hopes- When Fernanda marries Aureliano Segundo, she had always thought that she would be a queen, but in the end she lived miserably.
Jealousy- When Fernanda finds out that Aureliano gave Pietra her dress, and she dressed up as queen, Fernanda get jealous and runs away.
CHAPTER TWELVE
MAGICAL REALISM
When the sons of Colonel Aureliano Buendia went to mass on ash wednesday four of the sons' ashes did not wipe off, while the others did. That is magical realism because why wouldn't they wash off the other ones?
The fact that many men have died with just the sight of Remedios the Beauty is magical realism because how can people just die with that site of a beautiful woman?
QUOTES
" When he saw Mr. Brown in the first automobile to reach Macondo-an orange convertible with a horn that frightened dogs with its bark"
This quote jumps up at me because it goes back to the idea that nothing had a name and now they have all kinds of cool cars. Also, I think it's horrible that the "gringos" have come and they want to take over Macondo.
"The whole town saw the decapitated mand pass by as a group of men carried him to his house, with a woman dragging the head along by its hair, and the bloody sack with the pieces of the child."
This quote may not be important to the plot of the story, but the fact that the "gringos" are heartless jumped up at me. He was only seven years old!
CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT
In chapter twelve, the town of Macondo has been invaded by "gringos." The town, I guess you could say, has developed in terms of technology. The people, on the other hand, do not see this as an advancement. They see it as an invasion and Colonel Aureliano Buendia is not willing to put up with it. He says "one of these days...I'm going to arm my boys so we can get rid of these shitty 'gringos.' "
According to the inhabitants of Macondo , Macondo is not progressing at all. Aureliano wants to go back to war, to run the "gringos" out.
PLOT SUMMARY
The chapter opens up with the complaints of the people of Macondo. They decided that they do not want to watch the miseries of others while they have their own to take care of. In Macondo a man by the name of Mr. Brown comes and Ursula like always takes him in. Mr. Brown show up in an orange convertable. When he is at the house of the Buendia's he cannot stop eating bananas, he eats bunch after bunch. A few days later when Mr. Brown had left, "a group of engineers, agronomists, hydrologists, topographers, and surveyors arrived who fors everal weeks explored..." The people that came changed everything, they even moved the river from where it had always been and put it with its white stones and icey currents on the other side of town. They claimed to have come to start banana plantations.
Later on in the chapter all of Colonel Aureliano Buendia's son come to Macondo. The chapter then shifts to Remedios the beauty. A total of four men die in this chapter because of her. They try to approach her and they simply die. "The supposition that Remedios the Beauty possessed powers of death wa then brone ou by four irrefutable events."
Once when all seventeen of the brothers had received ashes on ash wednesday, the ashes could not be washed off of four of the brothers. This made Colonel Aureliano Buendia furious. At the end of the chapter he wants war with these "gringos."
THEMES
Death- is a major theme in this chapter because four of Colonel Aureliano Buendia's sons die.
Lust- This is the first time we see lust in the book. For example every man lusts after Remedios the Beauty.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
MAGICAL REALISM
"Fernanda would wander alone among the three living ghosts and the dead ghost of Jose Arcadio Buendia, who at times would come to sit down with an inquisitive attention in the half-light of the parlor while she was playing the clavichord."
This is magical realism because Jose Arcadio Buendia is already dead, and since ghosts do not exist this is magical realism as well.
We find that Jose Arcadio Buendia feels the urine as Aureliano urinates on the chestnut tree. This is magical realism because Jose Arcadio Buendia is dead, so therefore he cannot feel anything.
QUOTES
" 'You have a heart of stone,' she told him."
Ursula is telling this to Aureliano when she sees him burning Remedios' dolls. This quotw jumps up at me because people have told me that I have a heart of stone as well!
" 'How awful!' Fernanda lamented. 'This child is as much of a barbarian as her father!' "
This quote just confirmed my feelings toward Fernanda. Before this I was quite unsure of how I felt about her. I didn't know if she was a good character or a bad one. Now I know hse is awful because she insults her daughter with a passion.
CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT
In this chapte we get an update of how Ursula has been doing. She has finally grown old. I say this because in every other chapter she does not experience any signs of "oldness." Ursula unfortunately turns blind. At first she saw a little bit, but then she put honey on her eyes and that made it a little better. Then it came to the point where she saw nothing at all. She didnt want to tell anyone because then the whole town would know of her uselessness, so she kept it to herself. No one even suspected. She almost didn't even realize that she was blind herself. She was so used to the daily routine, that she knew where everything was. How everyone placed themselves about the house. Lastly she even knew what the people in her hous were going to say. She even knew colors by their textures because Jose Arcadio taught her uknowingly.
PLOT SUMMARY
The chapter starts off with an explanation of Ursula. Ursula has finally aged after many many years. In the meantime Jose Arcadio and Meme are ready to go to the seminary and the convent. Ursula barely realized that she has gone blind. She didn't realize it before because she was so used to everything. For example, "she knew with so much certainty the location of everything that she herself forgot that she was blind at times." Ursula finally came to the conclusion that Colonel Aureliano Buendia never loved anyone, not even his wife Remedios.
She also concluded that Rebecca, who was not even her legitimate daughter, turned out with the "unbridled courage that Ursula had wanted for her line." She realized that this whole time Rebecca was treated unfairly.
Three months later Meme came back to Macondo, and one time she brougth back some of hter classmates and some nuns. At that time Fernanda was already in charge of the house. She and Aureliano Segundo were already having problems so she simply accepted the fact that he slept with Pietra. She wanted him to come home while Meme returned. He accepted these terms and they lived happily like that .
After all this occurs Colonel Aureliano is in an eating contest. He eats so much, and after that Santa Sofia de la Piedad finds him dead near the dumpster.
THEMES
Death- In this chapter death is a major theme as well because finally Colonel Aureliano Buendia dies. He dies a miserable lonely death near a garbage can.
Loneliness-Loneliness is an important theme in this chapter because Colonel is feeling lonely and he burns Remedios' dolls.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
MAGICAL REALISM
The fact that butterflies follow Mauricio Babilonia everywhere. Not only do they follow him, but they follow Meme as well.
Also,the fact that Amaranta knew the exact date of her death because the body of Pilar Ternera told her she would die on that day.
QUOTES
" ' One minute of reconciliation is worth more than a whole life of friendship.' "
This quote was said by Ursula to Amaranta. I don't know if I agree with the statement one hundred percent because a whole life of friendship is worth a bundle if you ask me.
"If anyone seemed alive at that moment it was serene Amaranta, who had even had enough time to cut her corns."
This quote jumps up at me because if I knew the exact date of my death I would seize everyday.
CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT
There are two characters in this chapter that develop the most. Amaranta and Meme.
-Amaranta-Amaranta the woman who was a virgin, who said no to love and who loved her brother the most, finally dies. Poor Amaranta, she loved Pietro Crespi and the General, and she said no to their love. She did some bad things with her nephew Aureliano Jose and with her other nephew who was going to become a priest. She touched him in a manner that only a woman loves a man. She felt bad for it, but it's what kept her from her solitude. After all these years she still had some rancor left towards Rebecca for what happened with Pietro. She wished that Rebecca die before her. Even after all those years Amaranta could not forgive and forget. So it came the day in which she died.
Meme- In chapter thirteen we only find out that Meme went to school so she could learn how to play the clavicord. She would only come back to visit when she time off of school. Once she graduated she came to live with Fernanda. While she was living there she spent a tremendous amount of time with her father Aureliano Segundo. They were each others' confidants. Meme then falls in love with this boy named Mauricio. She was not the party girl we all knew earlier in the chapter, she matured into a woman who is in love.
PLOT SUMMARY
The chapter starts off with Meme returning home from school, she has already "graduated." We learn that Meme is a party girl. She likes to have girlfriends over and she likes to go to friends' houses. "Her happiness lay at the other extreme from discipline, in noisy parties, in gossip about lovers, in prolonged sessions with her girl friends, where they learned to smoke and talked about male business, and where they once got their hands on some cane liquor and ended up naked, measuring and comparing the parts of their bodies."This quote pretty much sums it up.
We then learn that Amaranta is still angry tat Rebecca, even after all these years. She wants Rebecca to die before her. We find out that once she finishes her shroud she will die. So the day approaches and she receives letters from all over Macondo. The letters are from people who want her to send them up to their own loved ones that have passed away. Amaranta is not scared of dying. After so many years Amaranta finally dies.
Later on we find out that Meme is falling for a man named Mauricio. He works is a mechanic who always smells like grease, but Meme does not care she truly likes the man. They secretly go out, until one day Fernanda found out that her daughter was having intercourse with him while she was showering. So Fernanda orders the guards to kill who ever tries to trespass. Unfortunately Mauricio is shot in the spinal chord and he dies a few days later.
THEMES
Death- Death is a reocurring theme. Mauricio dies and most importantly Amaranta.
Resent- I dont know if resent can even be theme but the fact that Amaranta hates Rebecca so much is an example of resent, I think...??
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
MAGICAL REALISM
"Their snorting of a many-headed dragon filled the glow of noon with a pestilential vapor."
I don't know if Aureliano Segundo was comparing the horses to dragons or if they really had dragons.
When Aureliano Segundo was at the station and about three thousand people died and when he returned people told him that, that never happened. This is magical realism because he had the blood on his shirt and face.
QUOTES
"She was still thinking about Mauricio...she would lkeep thining about him for all the days of hrel ife utnil the remote autumn morning when she died of old age..."
The scene was actually quite sad, I truly felt sympathy toward Meme.
" 'It's as if the world were repeating itself.' "
This quote suggests that the whole book is cyclical.
CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT
We had not heard of Jose Arcadio Segundo in a while until now. He turned out to be the leader of the rebellion against the banana plantation. He felt that they were treated unfairly. Then, out of nowhere we find Jose Arcadio in the station and he is being fired at. But then somehow it turned out to be a farce. So all in all Jose Arcadio turned out to be a leader.
PLOT SUMMARY
The chapter starts off with an update on what Fernanda did to Meme. Fernanda sent Meme to a hospital and she never spoke ever again. She was just so upset after Mauricio died.
When we hear that Fernanda returned back to Macondo on a train that was filled with soldiers we know that something bad is happening. The deal is that the banana plantation workers were on strike. They demanded that they have more rights. At the head of this strike was Jose Arcadio Segundo.
Then for some reason there were aobut three thousand people at the station and fourteen soldier fired at the people. It was all real. Jose Arcadio managed to flee on a train that was full of corpses. When he walked back to Macondo all the people told him that nothing of the sort had happened in Macondo. That was all weird because Jose Arcadio was present when it all ocurred. Then one day several soldiers when looking for hoodlums in th Buendia house, so Santa Sofia de la Piedad hid Jose 2nd in Melquiades' room. The soldiers did not spot him and at that point Jose knew that the war was over. Jose decided to live in that room.
QUOTES
War- Although I don't really know what happened in this chapter I do still believe that war is a major theme because some people of Macondo were killed.
Death- Meme dies in the hospital.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
MAGICAL REALISM
The only magical realism that ocurred in this chapter was the fact that it rained for four straight years nonstop. I don't think that's possible..is it???
QUOTES
" ' I'm only waiting for the rain to stop in order to die.' "
Ursuala tells this to Aureliano Segundo. I felt bad when she said this because she is going to die and she was one of the first characters in the book. It was quite sad that she is wanting to die and no one cares.
CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT
In this chapter we see a little development form Aureliano Segundo because he was staying with Fernanda while it rained. He does repairs and he sees his animals drowned.
Ursula is very old now and she simply wants to die, she wants to die when the rain stops.
PLOT SUMMARY
The chapter starts off by telling us that the rain that Mr. Brown brought upon the people lasted "four years, eleven months, and two days." While it rained Aureliano Segundo stayed at home with Fernanda and Ursula. While he was a at home he made as many repairs as possible, all while yearning to see Petra. All of Macondo was in ruins because of the rain. The houses were destroyed and there were pieces of furniture floating outside. The banana company was abandonded because it was ruined in the long storm. When it stopped raining Ursula was so desperate to die because it was her time and she was only a toy to the kids. Aurliano Segundo returned to Petra after the rain had cleared and he found all of his animals dead except for a skinny mule.
THEMES
Devastation- The town of Macondo was devastated because of the horrible storm.
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
MAGICAL REALISM
""a pod of schi peas fell downa ndt h beans lay onthe groudn ina perfect geometricl patterin int he shape ofa starfish,m and one night she saw a row of luminous orange diskd pass across the sky."
Magical realism because how can the beans fall intoa perfect geometrical pattern?
The fact that birds just kept dying for no reason.
QUOTES
"they found her dead on the morning of good friday"
This was acutally quite devastating because Ursula died and it was actually quite sad because she was the oldest and one of the first charactres presented in the book.
CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT
In this chapter we see Aureliano Segundo developing the most because he working so hard so that he can send little Amaranta Ursual to Brussels. It is all useless because he is dying.
PLOT SUMMARY
The chapter starts off with Ursula bine persistent on wanting to die. Now that the rain had stopped for some time now she was more than ready to die. In the meantime she cleaned up the house a bit. She tried to restore everything.
Int he meantime we hear that Aureliano Segundo is libing with Petra again. They start up a new business of raffling off animals. It was not a huge success because ht money would go to Fernanda for unnecissary items. They realized that Fernanda was the daughter they had alwayss wanted but never had.
After all this had occurred Ursula died, she died on "the morning of Good Friday." It was said that not many people attended the fneral because no one remembered her. After the death of Ursula many birds died. The priest said ti was because a monster was in town. So the people of Macondo set up traps to catch this monster and they did, it was a green hairy greasy looking thing. The people ended up hanging it on a tree. A few days later Rebecca died.
In the meantime Jose Arcadio taught Mem' son how to dot everythign.
Later on everone int he town makes fun of Aureliano Segundo becase he is dying. Lastly, out of nowher the twins die.
THEMES
DEath. Ursuala dies and the twins too
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
MAGICAL REALISM
The simple fact that Aureliano is talking to Melquiades in Melquiades' room is magical realism because Melquiades has been dead for a very long time now.
"Fernanda got the impression taht the house was filling up with elves." Fernanda sees plenty of things happening in the house. She sees things out of place and not in the proper order. This is magical realism because elves do not exist.
QUOTES
" 'So,' he said with a voice with a touch of razor in it, 'you're the bastard."
I believe this statement was really harsh especially coming from Jose Arcadio who is suppose to be a priest.
"The only thing that seemed to worry him in the rest of the house were the saints on the family altar, which he burned down to ashes..."
Again I'm quite shocked to hear this because he is supposed to be a priest.
CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT
In this chapter we see the development of an uncle and his nephew, Jose Arcadio and Aureliano. Aureliano was used to living in Melquiades' room, he was a loner. When Jose Arcadio returned from Rome Jose treated Aureliano unfairly. Jose Arcadio would lavish himself with all kinds of imported items and eh would notshare it with Aureliano. Jose Arcadio would make young boys pamper him, which was quite disturbing to know. One day Aureliano was nice enough to go and get him some medicine and Jose Arcadio "let him free" about the house. They even bonded a little bit, until Jose Arcadio died, and that was when Aureliano realized that he was beginning ot love him.
PLOT SUMMARY
We righta way learn that Aureliano has been living in Melquiades' room. There he "learned by heart the fantastic legends of the crumbling book, they synthesis of the studies of Hermann the Cripple, the notes on the science of demonolgy, the keys to the philosopher's stone, the Centuries of Nostradamusand his research concerning the plague, so that he reached adolescence without knowing a thing about his own time." He only came out of the room to use the washroom or to eat. Aureliano would even talk to Melquiades' himself.
In the meantime Petra would send Fernanda moneya nd food. Even though Petra was starving she would send Fernanda everything she needed. I don' t truly understand why she did this, but it says it was her pride. In the meantime Santa Sophia de La Piedad was growing old. She was treated unfairly by the strict hand of Fernanda, and she could not take it anymore. She decided to go and live with one of her family members, but everyone knew that she had no family members.
When she left Fernanda felt the presence of elves. Things would get misplaced and out of order. She even thought it was Aureliano playing tricks on her, but it was not. She decided to lock him in Melquiades' room and Aureliano did not have it in him to escape, one could easily say he was a passive obedient boy. One day Aureliano found Fernanda lying on her bed looking beautiful, but she did not move because she was dead. A few days later her son returned from Rome and he locked up Aureliano again and he even offended him. I don't know if he was actually ordained because the book says that he came home once he read one of Fernanda's letters. All Jose Arcadio could think of was Amaranta.
Jose Arcadio was already living in the house for about a year. He sold a few things in order to eat. I would say he was a hypocrite because he played with the children and he preached lessons to the people. He did all this while remembering the torture that Ursula made him go through. The four eldest children that "played" at the Buendia house would pamper JoseArcadio. One night he and one of the boys found the gold that Ursula hid a long time ago. Jose Arcadio bought pleny of things, he even turned a little crazy because hs was naked with four other young boys. He realized that he was wront in doing those things so he whipped the boys and threw them out. He and Aureliano became closer, they actually spoke to each other because Aureliano was kind enough to go buy him som medicine for his asthma and Jose set him free in the house. One day while Jose was bathing the boys came in a drowned him, and Aureliano realized that he was acually feeling some love towards his uncle.
THEMES
Death- Death was going to be an obvious theme, it has been throughout the entire book. One generation of the Buendia's keeps dying one after the other. In this chapter FErnanda dies and this is what causes Jose Arcadio to come back to Macondo. Then he dies at the end of the chapter.
Solitude- Solitude is theme in this chapter because Aureliano has been the "loneliest" of all the Buendias. He literally has no interest in the outside world. He is lonely because he has no one that cares for him, because he is "bastard."
CHAPTER NINETEEN
MAGICAL REALISM
Honestly there is no magical realism in this chapter I think maybe the fact that Amaranta Ursula and Gaston made love on acid...but wouldn't that be dangerous?
The fact that Pilar Ternera is still alive and she is 140+ years old!!! We all know that is impossible.
QUOTES
" The encyclopedic coinsidence was the beginning of a great friendship."
I was quite happy to see that Aureliano finally made some friends! yay!
"Gaston's system seemed so perverse to him, but at the same timeso effective, that he ventured to warn Amaranta Ursula."
Aureliano at this point is thinking that Gaston is evil. He thinks that he he being submissive so that later on he can be controlling and demanding. Are Aureliano's suspicions true? Is Gaston simply fulfilling a plan? Is he deceiving Amaranta Ursula?
CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT
In this chapter we see Aureliano a long with his aunt, this time as opposed to his uncle, develop. Amaranta Ursula arrives from Brussels she has recently married. I am assuming she is about twenty five years old because her uhusband is fifteen years her senior and he is forty. I am assuming that Aureliano is about the same age because they used to play together when they were little. When Amaranta came home she only saw Aureliano as a brother, because it says that she gave him a sisterly embrace. She did not even consider him as someone to have feelings for because she was so deeply in love with her new husband. As the time passed by she took it upon herself to restore the house and Macondo. In the meantime Aureliano was growing more and more in love with Amaranta. In the beginning of the chapter he was still but his desires for Amaranta drove him to lose his virginity. At the end of the chapter he "forces" Amaranta to make love to him.
PLOT SUMMARY
Again we find Aureliano stuck in Melquiades' room studying parchements(sp). One day Amaranta Ursula arrives from Brussels with her husband Gaston who is interested in aviation. Marquez gives a brief account on how the couple met. Amaranta takes it upon herself to restore the mansion and to give some like the Macondo, the town she wanted to die in. Int he meantime Gaston tries to make Aureliano his friend but he cannot. He examines every insect there is in Macondo and he is still bored and wants to go to Belgium. He even starts to put in action his idea of airmail.
In the meantime Aureliano is falling for his own aunt Amaranta. He even starts suspecting that Gaston is thinking up a plan to control Amaranta. Again, I do not know if those suspicions are correct. In the end he practically tells Amaranta that he lusts for her, and she told him that she was going to leave. She did not follow through with her threat, instead she had intercourse with him.
THEMES
Incest- A major theme is incest which is intertwined with lust in this chapter. Aureliano lusts after his own aunt which is incest. This drives both of them to have intercourse.
Restoration- With Amaranta back in town Aureliano is in a sense rejuvinated because she brought a joy with her. The house is restored and Amaranta tries to reconstruct Macondo little by little.
CHAPTER TWENTY
MAGICAL REALISM
The fact that the child of Aureliano and Amaranta had a pig tail is magical realism.
The fact that the bookstore owner thought that elves where invading his space is magical realism because elves do not exist.
QUOTES
"The first of the line is tied to a tree and the last is being eatien by the ants."
Finally someone deciphered Melquiades' writings. How unfortunate it was that the whole line tried to decipher them and it was ironic that it told them how they would die, but they never could decipher it.
"...they knew that she was dead because of the flow had stopped...."
The death of Amaranta Ursula actually almost brought tears to my eyes. The fact taht they actually loved each other and the fact that they could not live any longer together was sad.
CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT
In this chapter we see Amaranta's and Aureliano's love grow profoundly. They were truly in love and they made love everywhere. Even though they were poor and their house was falling apart their love remain strong. Even after the town was practically abandoned they knew that the only thing they needed to live was their love for each other. They were the only couple to actually truly love each other and have baby that was a fruit of true love.
PLOT SUMMARY
Aureliano and Amaranta are deeply in love and they have intercourse at all hours of the day. Aureliano gets the news that the bookstore owner is leaving and his only friends have left too. He is not so sad now, but that changes later when Amaranta dies. He really doesn't care that his friends left, he still manages to write to the bookstore owner. Gaston has left and he had promised to return but he did not. That made Aureliano a husband Amaranta. Later on we find out that Amaranta is pregnant. She has a baby boy with pig tail. Amaranta nor Aureliano thought this was abnormal because they had never heard Ursula tell her story. Unfortunately Amaranta bled to death after she gave birth to the child. Aureliano ws so upset that he forgot about the baby and the ants killed it. That was when Aureliano deciphered the many "parchments" that Melquiades had left. "
The first of the line is tied to a tree and the last is being eaten by the ants." That exactly what happened and Aureliano uncovered many things he did not know about his ancestors. AT that moment he knew he would never leave Melquiades' room because when he finished deciphering the parchments the whole town of Macondo including himself would be wiped away.
THEMES
Death- The death of Amaranta Ursula drove Aureliano to decipher Melquiades' parchments.
Solitude- Aureliano is again lonely and with no one on earth who cares for him. This also drove him to decipher the parchments. Lastly the whole family had lived an entire century of solitude.
